Manufacture of shoes



Jan. 5; 1937. A. R. SCHOENKY MANUFACTURE OF SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 1, 1936 Jan. 5, 1937. A. R. SCHOENKY 2,066,424

MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Filed April 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan.5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES ApplicationApril 1, 1936, Serial No. 72,132

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes, and moreparticularly to the treatment of the marginal portions of uppers lastedover insoles. The invention is herein illustrated by reference tooperations performed at the toe end of a shoe, but it is to beunderstood that it is not thus limited in its applicability.

In lasting the toe ends of shoes, especially when an adhesive is used tosecure the uppers in lasted position, it has sometimes been the practicetofasten to the shoe over the marginal portion of the upper a retainingdevice for holding the upper in lasted position until the adhesive hasdried or set, and thereafter to remove the retaining device from theshoe. It has also sometimes been the practice to subject the margin ofthe upper, immediately after it has been wiped inwardly over the insole,to heat and pressure in order to accelerate the drying or setting of theadhesive and to eliminate wrinkles in the overwiped margin. The presentinvention provides a method whereby are secured certain advantages ofboth such prior practices. In carrying out the method in the mannerherein i1- lustrated a retaining device is fastened to the shoe over themargin of the upper around the toe end of the shoe bottom while themargin is held in lasted position by toe-lasting wipers, thus insuringagainst any possible displacement of the upper from lasted position whenthe wipers are withdrawn from the shoe, and thereafter the retainingdevice is heated to assist in eliminating any wrinkles in the margin ofthe upper which it engages as well as to accelerate the drying orsetting of the adhesive sothat the device may be promptly removed fromthe shoe. As further herein illustrated, the retaining device isfastened to the shoe by tacks which penetrate through the margin of theupper and into the insole and which also are heated, so that heat isconducted by the tacks directly to the adhesive in locations immediatelyadjacent thereto. Further insurance is thus afforded that the upper willbe held securely by the adhesive when the retaining device is removed.

The toe portion of an upper usually comprises several layers of uppermaterials, including a toe box and a lining, and in the practice of themethod of this invention the margins of all the layers except the outerlayer may, in accordance with a common procedure, be trimmed so that theoverlasted margin of the outer layer will lie, at least throughout thegreater portion of its width, next to the insole. As herein illustrated,however, the margins of all the layers are lasted inwardly over theinsole and the tacks penetrate through the several layers so that theyconduct heat not only to portions of the adhesive lying between thedifferent layers and between the inner layer and the insole, but also toportions of the toe box. If the toe box, therefore,

is of that kind which is softened by a solvent, 7

the heat conducted by the tacks accelerates evaporation of the solventand the hardening of the margin of the toe box as well as the drying orsetting of the adhesive applied for lasting pur-- poses.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference tothe accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig.. 1 is a plan view of toe wipers which may be utilized to apply aretaining device to a shoe in the practice of the novel method, showingsuch a device mounted in recesses in the wipers;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing portions of a pulling-overand toe-lasting machine in which the wipers are included and which maybe conveniently used in the practice of the method;

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 3 illustrating difierent stagesof the lasting operation;

Fig. 6 illustrates the heating of the upper-retaining device and thetacks after the lasting operation by means convenient for that purpose;and

Fig. 7 shows the forepart of the shoe with the retaining device fastenedon the toe end thereof.

The pulling-over and toe-lasting machine portions of which are showninFigs. 3, 4 and 5' and which, as above stated, may be conveniently usedin the practice of the novel method, is constructed substantially asshown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,980,435,granted on November 13, 1934 upon an application of C. F. and A. F. Pym.The last and shoe are supported bottom downward in the machine by aplurality of pins 2 extending through holes in the insole into socketsin the bottom of the last. The upper is pulled over the last by aplurality of grippers 4, only two of which are herein shown, and whileit is held under tension by the grippers it is wiped downwardly aroundthe toe end of the last by a toe bandfi. Under the toe end of the shoeis a tack block 8 having therein a plural ity of driver passages inwhich tack drivers ID are movable to drive tacks upwardly into the shoebottom. The tack block is moved upwardly to press the marginal portionof the insole.

against the last, as illustrated in Fig. 3, while the upper is heldunder tension by the grippers,

along the faces of the wipers to bring its driver passages intoalinement with openingsgl 4r -;which extend through the wipers.Thereafter the drivers. are operated to drive'thetacks upwardly throughthese openings intothe shoe bottom to fasten the overwiped margin oftheupper in lasted position. For a more,.complete under.

standing of the construction and operationof the 7 machine theabove-mentioned Letters" Patent may be consulted. .I H i To assist inthe practice ofthe'niethod of this invention the wipers IZareprovided intheir.

top faces, near their wipingedges, with shallow recesses toireceive anuppereretaining device comprising two thin metal plates-l6 and [8 ,the'

top faces of which are flush with the top faces ofjthe wipers-when theplates are inthe recesses. The plates [Band 18 have openings 20 arrangedto ,alinet centrally with the openings l4 in the wipersto'receive theshanks of the driven ztacks.

, the openings 20 being of smaller diameterthan the heads of thetac'ks.Each p1atel6'andl8 is beveled on its lower face around? :each. of theopenings 20, asshown at 2'2 (Fig.1'2), to guide the point of the tackinto the opening. .These bevels' cause the tacks, initially tipped inthe driver passages as shown in'l.=ig.:3,' to assume positionssubstantially perpendicular to theshoe bottom, and accordingly-the meansdisclosed in V the above-mentioned Letters. Patent for moving the tackblock 8 lengthwise of the shoe t'o bring the tacks intoperpendicularrelation to;the shoe bottom as they are'being drivenisipreferably omitted. Theplatel8 has 'a projection 24' (Fig. 1) theedgeof which is curved and fits'in a complementally curved recess in theedg'e of the plate Hi, the two platescorrespondin'ginthis re-'- spect tothe shape of the wipersben'eath them,

, and one of the openings 20'is located in the projection 24 at'theaxisof swinging movement of under the shoe'bottom. As' illustrated inFig. 1,

the wipers [2. It will be understood that the plates l6 and l8are-carried inwardly over the insole by the'wipers and have themselvesa: wiping'action onthemargin of the upper, and that whenthe tacks aredriven they fasten theplates to the shoe in pressure-applying" relationto the margin of the upper, the relation-ofthe plates andof the'ta'cks-t to the shoe being illustrated in Fig. 7. In thereturn 'of the partsof the machine to their starting positionsthe-wipers I2 aremoveddownwardly, togetherfwith' the toe band 6, by the cam-operatedmeanscontrolling these parts, so that the wipers clear the plates 16 and3 before the wipers are "retracted" from the upper-retainingplatesj donot extend the fulllengths of the'rows of openings inthe wipers,

although" if desired the'cojnstructionmay be" such that they will doso.If= openings l4 are located beyond the ends of the plates 'as shown,tacks may be driven through these openings into the shoe or, as hereinillustrated, such tacks maybe" I omitted by eliminating -feed-f.oftacksto the corresponding driver passages in the tack block 8.

After the toe of the shoe has been lasted as above described, theupper-retaining plates l6 and I8 and the tacks t are subjected to theaction of heat. For this purpose there may be conveniently utilizedapparatus such as shown in Fig. 6, comprising a column 26 on the top ofwhich is a heating plate 28 having therein a. curved recess 30.Projecting downwardlyfrom the lower face of the plate 28 is a holder 32"for an electrical heating unit 34. The shoe is supported with theupper-retaining plates and the tacks against "the lower face of the hotplate 28 adjacent to the -recess 3!] by two resilient curved rods 36provided with a felt pad 38 for engaging the top of the toe of the shoeand holding the shoe pressed up toward the plate 28. The rods 36 aresupported by a holder 40 which is held on the plate 28 byset screws 42.While provision is thus made in the construction shown for treating onlyone shoe at a time, other shoe supports and corresponding recesses 30 inthe plate 28 may be provided if desired.

It will be understood that the heat conducted through the plates l6 and3 has a shrinking action on the marginal portion of the upper held underpressure by the plates and thus assists in eliminating any wrinkles inthe upper, especially around the endof the toe, to provide a smooth seatfor the outsole, and also that such heat as is conducted to the adhesivefor securing-the upper in lasted position serves to accelerate thedrying or setting of the adhesive. .The'tacks ex-3 tending throughtheflupper intothe insole are especially effective in conducting heatdirectly to the adhesive in locations immediately adjacent thereto. Theshoe, therefore, may beremoved from the heating apparatus after acomparatively short time, and the upper-retaining plates and the tacksmay then be removed from the shoe without any danger. that the upperwill be displaced from lasted position.

In accordance with theprocedure herein illustrated the marginal portionsof a plurality of layers of upper materials, comprising a lining 44(Fig.3) and a toe box 46 in addition to the outer layer 48 of leather,are lasted inwardly over the insoleby'the wipers l2, and the tackspenetrate. through all these layers and into the insole.

margins ofthe several layers and preferablyalso to the margin of theinsole; Rubber latex; pyroxylin cement or any other suitableadhesive,

although preferably of a' kind adapted to be dried or set by heat, maybe used for the purpose.- By conducting heat directly to portions of theadhesive between the'lining and theinsole and between the lining and thetoe box, as'well as to that between the toe box and the uppenthe tackscontribute efiectively to the rapid drying or setting of the adhesivelocatedmore or less remote from the plates l6 and I8. Heat also isconducted by the tacks to portions of themar'gin of the toe box and ifthe toe box is of a kind adaptedto be softened by a solvent,suchheattends"to" It will be understood that-prior tothetoe-lastingoperation an adhesive is applied to the trimmed flush with the portionto which heat and pressure are applied by the plates after the plateshave been removed from the shoe.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1'. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists inlasting the marginal portion of an upper inwardly over an insole,fastening an upper-retaining-device to the shoe upon the marginalportion of the upper, heating said upper-retaining device, andthereafter removing said device from the shoe.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in lastingthe marginal portion of an end of an upper inwardly over an insole withan adhesive between the upper and the insole, fastening anupper-retaining device to the shoe in pressure-applying relation to themarginal portion of the upper, and thereafter heating saidupper-retaining device to assist in eliminating wrinkles in the upperand to accelerate the drying or setting of the adhesive.

3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in lastingthe marginal portion of an upper inwardly over an insole with anadhesive between the upper and the insole, fastening an upper-retainingdevice upon the marginal portion of the upper by fastenings penetratingthrough the upper and into the insole,

'heating said upper-retaining device and the fastenings, and. thereafterremoving said device and the fastenings from the shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in lastingthe marginal portions of a plurality of layers of upper materials,including a toe box adapted to be hardened by heat, inwardly over thetoe end of an insole, fastening an upper-retaining device upon themarginal portion of the outer layer of the materials by fasteningspenetrating through the several layers and into the insole, and heatingsaid upper-retaining device and the fastenings to cause heat to beconducted through said device to the outer layer of the materials andthrough the fastenings to the marginal portion of the toe box.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in lastingthe marginal portions of a plurality of layers of upper materialsinwardly over the toe end of an insole with an adhesive between thedifferent layers and between the inner layer and the insole, fasteningan upper-retaining device upon the marginal portion of the outer layerof the materials by fastenings penetrating through the several layersand into the insole, heating said upper-retaining device and thefastenings to cause heat to be conducted through said device to theouter layer of the materials and through the fastenings to the adhesive,and thereafter removing said device and the fastenings from the shoe.

6. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in lastingthe marginal portion of the toe end of an upper inwardly over an insolewith an adhesive between the upper and the insole by the use of toewipers and also by use of said Wipers applying upper-retaining plates tothe marginal portion of the upper, fastening said plates to the shoe bydriving tacks through the upper and into the insole While the upper isheld in lasted position by the wipers, heating said plates and the tacksto cause heat to be conducted by the plates to the marginal portion ofthe upper and by the tacks to the adhesive, and thereafter removing saidplates and the tacks from the shoe.

AUGUST R. SCI-IOENKY.

